It will if the East Village Community Coalition has its way. This week’s Villager reports on the group’s efforts to “eventually implement changes to the city’s Zoning Resolution that would prevent so-called formula chain establishments such as Starbucks from displacing local businesses or appearing out of context with the neighborhood.”
Options that other cities have used to limit chain retail stores include store size caps (usually only effective for banning the big boxes), community impact review requirements (in which impact studies are required for large-scale retail developments), and the aforementioned formula business restrictions. While some towns or neighborhoods choose a complete moratorium on chain stores, others require chains to alter their “formula” by designing their signage, facades, etc. to be both different from other locations of the same chain, and contextual with the surrounding neighborhood.
Since commercial uses in NYC are already regulated by zoning, and considering the recent attention to this issue and concerns that chain stores are pushing out small businesses and causing NYC to lose its character, is this an idea whose time has come?
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January 4, 2008 at 7:13 pm
sustainableflatbush.org » Blog Archive » Zoning out the Chain Stores?
[...] just read about this on a blog called Community Based Planning, where the question is posed: “Could Formula Retail Zoning be in NYC’s Future?” A group called the East Village Community Coalition is spearheading an effort to protect [...]
January 5, 2008 at 7:19 am
Tom Lowenhaupt
I favor locally owned stores in most instances. But I find myself going into chains to make small purchases. Chains will allow you to buy a pack of gum with a credit card while locals won’t. I suspect this has to do with the agreements with the credit card companies – chains get better deals.
I might be mistaken, but weren’t there restrictions placed on pricing of goods to small stores in the 1930′s, some law that stopped the 5 & 10s from driving small stores out of business? Might some action be taken to facilitate equitable pricing of credit card processing thereby giving a boost to mom and pop?